What did I learn from my 30-day Gym experiment?

Going to the gym has been a perpetual struggle for me. Though I have an annual membership and the gym is just a 4-minute walk from my home, I would hardly be 4 or 5 times in the gym in a month. I made weekly promises to myself, blocking my calendar, trying different schedules during the week, and scaring myself that I have crossed 50 now and should be more attentive to my health. ?Nothing worked.

Then, in July this year, I motivated myself to try again. I asked myself, when was I last inculcated a new habit? It was my daily habit of pranayama and meditation. How did it happen? Thinking through a bit more, I saw a pattern and tried it out.

Here is how it worked:

• Stack it up, linking it with other daily activities so that it happens every day around the same time and in the same sequence. For me, this is how the sequence worked:

waking up at 5.30 AM > freshening up > 
doing my back exercise (must for my back pain) > 
pranayama > meditation for 20 minutes > 
having tea and reading Economist >
 
hitting the gym by 7:15 AM 
(a new addition to the sequence) > 

Back home by 8:10 AM, taking a shower> 
Quick breakfast and coffee > 
Reaching the office by 9 AM        

• Take one day at a time, celebrate, and promise for the next day. There is no need to make a significant promise like a 30-day challenge or have weight loss as a goal. 30-day stretch or weight loss could be a byproduct – do not have it as a motivation or goal. Just go for the activity, making sure you follow the activity in sequence. It is crucial to make it part of your daily routine – making it part of who you are, changing your identity.
• Show up daily following the same sequence: Mind will play tricks. Some days, you will feel like not going. Some days, you will be hard-pressed for time. For example, I remember having my first meeting at 8 a.m. one day. Instead of skipping the gym (which I would have done earlier), I decided to get up a little bit earlier (5 AM instead of 5:30 AM) and managed to hit the gym for 30 minutes. So, please don’t listen to your mind when it is trying to play tricks. Stay focused.
• Associate the activity with another activity that you enjoy. Going to the gym may become boring after some time. So, it is vital to make it enjoyable. I, for example, started listening to TED talks, podcasts, etc., while cycling at the gym. Combining the gym activity with learning (one of my core values) made it more enjoyable.
• Repeat the activity for at least three weeks. OK, I know what you are thinking. Is it so simple? Just three weeks of continuous repetitive activities to make it a new habit? I do not know for sure. But you try yourself – repeat the same activity in the same sequence at the same time every day for three weeks – see if it becomes a new habit for you.

So, that’s my journey of inculcating a new habit. I could not make 30 days in a row, and I have a break from ‘gymming’ now as I have not been keeping well for the last few weeks (seasonal flu) – but I am happy. I feel like I finally cracked it and can pick it up again any time following the same method. More importantly, I firmly believe it is a recipe I can follow to inculcate any new habit in the future.

By the way, I did not invent any of these methods. You will observe strong similarities if you read the book ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear. And no worries if you are lazy like me, not having the time or willpower to read the book. There is an alternative – you can watch the 30-minute summary of the book. I will add that link to the comment of this post. It is worth it.

Cherish, enjoy, and bask in the glory of creating new habits for yourself.

Disclaimer:?The views expressed in this article are my point of view and do not in any way represent that of the organization I work for.